Second seed Simona Halep held all 10 of her service games en route to a 6-3, 6-4 win over former world number one Jelena Jankovic at the WTA Tour's Rogers Cup on Wednesday. Playing for the first time since last month's Wimbledon tournament, Halep fought off all three break points she faced and won 80 percent of her first serve points in the 81 minute second-round match.
"My serve was pretty good today," Halep said. "I tried to be aggressive and take the ball as soon as possible, because I know she has good defence. And I tried to keep my first serves in because she returns well, too. And I also tried to play her forehand more, because she has a very strong backhand. "I knew I had to make her run a lot, open the court and finish the points when I could." Romania's Halep advances to the third round where she will face number 13 seed Angelique Kerber who easily beat qualifier Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-2, 6-3.
Halep's win over Jankovic was much different than their previous five contests which were all close. They played a marathon three setter earlier this year at Indian Wells which Halep won 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. "I feel happy that I could win in two sets. I always played about three hours with her and always had tough matches," Halep said. "I had a long break at home, so it was difficult to come here and right away face one of the hardest players in the world, but I just did everything I could to win."
Two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka upset third seeded Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-3 to reach the third round. The 26-year-old Azarenka won 64 percent of her second serve points to just 35 percent for Kvitova in the 88 minute match on center court. Fourth seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza were also sent crashing out of the event.